History of Peng & Weber

Since 1992, Peng
& Weber has grown from a two-lawyer firm into a national
immigration law practice through the efforts of its founding
partners, Elizabeth Peng and Cletus M. Weber, and through the work of
our attorneys and staff.

Elizabeth Peng, who grew up in China, earned her Bachelor of Law (LLB)
and Master of Law (LLM) degrees at the China University of Politics and
Law in Beijing, China in 1982 and 1985, respectively. Although not an
English major, she worked tirelessly to learn English in the hopes that
she might receive an opportunity to study abroad. That opportunity came
in the form of a Ford Foundation scholarship to study law at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1985, but she subsequently decided to
study law the University of Kansas in America's Heartland.

During law school, Ms. Peng clerked in the international law department
at Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. in
Kansas City. After graduating with her Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Kansas School of
Law in 1988, she joined the international and immigration law group at
Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin
& Kahn in Washington, D.C. While at Arent Fox, Ms. Peng played a key
role in lobbying Congress and the first Bush Administration on major
immigration issues, obtaining immigration status for more than 80,000
Chinese students and scholars in the United States. In 1990, Ms. Peng was invited to join the law
firm of
Ogden Murphy Wallace in Seattle, Washington, where she practiced immigration law until
forming Peng & Weber with Cletus M. Weber in 1992.

Cletus M. Weber, who grew up in
Montana, attended the University of Montana and the College of William
& Mary in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, earning his Bachelor of
Business Administration (BBA) degree with Beta Gamma Sigma honors in
1986. He subsequently earned his JD degree from the National Law Center
at the George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1989. While in
law school, Mr. Weber was a member of the George Washington Law
Review and served as Managing Editor in 1988-1989.

After graduating from law school in
1989, Mr. Weber joined the law firm of
Ogden Murphy Wallace
in Seattle, Washington. He also worked as a staff attorney and
legislative drafter in Washington State Senate before forming Peng &
Weber with Ms. Peng in 1992.

In the early days of Peng & Weber,
our law practice included corporate, real estate, and litigation, as
well as immigration law. Given the complexities and constant changes of
immigration law, however, the partners believe that we can best serve
and protect our clients' interests by focusing our energies exclusively
on immigration law. As a result, Peng & Weber has limited its practice
to immigration law since the mid-1990s.

Since this time, the firm has
developed a national reputation for its experience and success in
immigration law, particularly in the representation of
scientists, research
engineers, Ph.D. students, professors, and the entities that hire
them. We also have significant experience in other areas of immigration
law, from labor certifications, H-1B, L-1 and other nonimmigrant visa
petitions to political asylum, family-related immigration and employer
issues, such as I-9 compliance.

Throughout its history, Peng & Weber
has been devoted to the excellence of immigration law practice. All of
our attorneys are members of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and most of us have actively
served on the Executive Committee of the Washington State Chapter of
AILA. Ms. Peng served on the Executive Committee in 1993-1994. Mr. Weber
has served on the Executive Committee since 2001, served as Chapter
Chair from 2005-2006, and is currently Immediate Past Chair.

Our law firm is physically located in Mercer Island (Seattle
suburb) (because we prefer to live
here), but we continue to represent individual and corporate clients located throughout the United States. Since 1992, we have represented
clients from about 40 different states in the United States and have
represented citizens from countries around the world. We take great
pride in our reputation for providing top-quality service in the field
of immigration law, and all of our attorneys and staff cherish the
responsibility and rewards of carrying on this tradition.